Parenting FAIL

A week or two after Eric got home from POST, Eric and I had a major parenting fail. Or maybe that is just how I see it. Maybe I'll look back on it and think, ''Oh that was nothing.'' But the one thing I'm sure of is that this will certainly not be our last parenting fail...

It was a Sunday night and Emmeline was having a hard time going to sleep. Sundays can be hard. Emmeline used to fall asleep in my arms at church and take a nap. But, gone are those days. So usually Emmeline only gets one nap all day. And as all parents know: lack of sleep means going to sleep is even harder. Which is one of the weirdest ironies ever.

So, we resorted to our crutch: the carseat. Not the best place for her to sleep, but hey we were desperate. Eric put her in the carseat (she was still in her dress... oops) and started swinging her back and forth until she feel asleep. We put the carseat in her room, and had a nice, quiet evening.

Emmeline's nap turned into sleeping the whole night--which is one of the magical things about carseats. We should have gotten her out, changed her, and put her in her crib. But we were too nervous to ruin a good thing, so she stayed in her carseat.

Well, morning came, and I woke up to silence. And it was glorious. I lied there in my bed, and thought, "This is wonderful, she's still sleeping." But then I decided to check on her. One step out of the room, and I could hear her screaming. I ran into her room. And I saw her on the floor, out of her carseat, kicking, and screaming! She had fallen out her carseat and had been lying there for who knows how long. Eric had only put on the shoulder straps, and didn't buckle the legs part. So, somehow Emmeline had wiggled out of her carseat and had landed on the floor. To say I felt bad is an understatement. I yelled to Eric, scooped her up, and cuddled her. She must have felt so abandoned, scared and cold. Falling out of a carseat must be traumatizing!

Eric came running. When I told him what happened, he also felt horrible. We both just cuddled Emmeline, hoping to make her forget her most recent traumatic experience and that she would forgive her well-meaning parents. All I can say is that at least she won't remember this--maybe it's a good thing we don't remember being babies...

We learned our lesson, well maybe three.

1. Babies really should sleep in their cribs, when possible.
2. If we put her in the carseat, we should properly buckle her in, all the way.
3. Carseat really should become a word. I'm annoyed with the red squiggly line after this post. It functions as one word, so it should be one. 

This also reminds me that we should not judge parents. I think for the most part, they really do try their best. 

Please read, this is important: What Kind of Parent Leaves their Kids in the Car? This Mom.

Jackson Day-cation Tradition

The day after the 4th of July we went to Jackson Hole with Eric's family for the day. Jackson is probably our favorite day-cation and it's become a tradition by accident--we just really love going to Jackson, and always seem to go at the same time of year. We first went right after the 4th of July when we were dating....

Flash back

We drove up at like some unearthly hour, like 4 a.m. or something--I was not a happy camper. But the views were gorgeous and we took some awesome pictures, that Eric jokingly said looked like engagement pictures. I was so embarrassed, and was a little scared that he had brought up the elephant in the room--marriage. But it ended up being prophetic, and we still joke about our ''original engagement pictures''

Which was followed by breakfast at a fantastic restaurant called The Bunnery, and the purchase of Eric's mountain man hat.

The "engagement picture"

...

And then last year, when I was pregnant we went up for the day. We caught breakfast at The Bunnery again and then went on a hike around the lakes.

Delicious hot chocolate from The Bunnery

 

Apparently drinking hot chocolate with a mustache is tough stuff... man, looking at pictures it seems that I'm way to lenient on letting him have a mustache...

...

So, it was only right that we went again right after the 4th of July again this year. Only this time we replaced The Bunnery with a picnic near a lake. Though we want to go again later this year--The Bunnery is THAT good. 

We had so much fun spending time with Eric's family and making fun of "sasquatch enthusiasts." (You'll have to ask Eric to do his Patterson movie impression sometime--family, did someone get a picture of it? His long arms make it look quite authentic.)

First time in Jackson as a family of three. 

Emmeline sporting daddy's hat.

It looks like she's walking in this picture!

My favorite picture of us two to date.

Eek, cute shoes! :)

Getting loves from Grandma.

My two favorite people.

4th of July River Activities

Growing up across the country from my grandparents meant that almost every summer we came out for a month or two to spend time with them. Which also meant that I've probably spent as many 4th of July's in Idaho Falls as most people who grew up here. Even after we moved to Utah when I was twelve we kept coming up to Idaho Falls because by then it was just the place to be on the 4th of July, and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

One of my favorite parts of the 4th of July is just spending time down by the river on the greenbelt. I love all of the fun food--my favorite is those corn on the cobs that are sinfully coated in a pound of butter and Parmesan cheese, sooo yummy--and just hanging out waiting for the fireworks. Though this year we didn't stick around for the fireworks because Emmeline doesn't sleep well away from her crib anymore, and we weren't sure how she would react to the fireworks and didn't want to find out in a huge crowd. 

We had to curtail our 4th of July activities this year because of Emmeline's schedule. So we elected not to do the parade also. Though I'm sure she won't let us skip the parade in future years :)

Daddy and daughter

LOVE her!

Emmeline and Grandma

Emmeline's First 5k

The FireKracker 5k run on the 4th of July has been a tradition in my family (and extended family) since 2010. The first year we ran it Eric and I were seriously dating and he ran the race with us. 

Us right after the race in 2010.

I love that he's been a part of it since the beginning. And I also love that since we live in Idaho Falls we can run it every year. And it was so much fun to include Emmeline in this tradition. Thankfully Eric had the 4th off--as a police officer I'm sure there will be many years when he will have to work--so he volunteered for the job of pushing Emmeline. I was pretty impressed, pushing Emmeline didn't seem to slow him down too much, he still got a really good time--he beat me and I only had to push myself along :)

Emmeline did great, she slept a little bit and enjoyed the view the rest of the time. I hope that this tradition will help Emmeline learn to love to run too!

We can't wait to run it again next year!

Emmeline survived her first 5k. 

Emmeline loves her Aunt Tori!

Police Academy Graduation

Eleven months after Eric graduated from BYU-Idaho with his Bachelors, he graduated from the Idaho State Police Academy ( i.e. POST). Emmeline and I were so proud of him, and so glad that he could finally come home for good after 10 weeks. He was able to come home on the weekends, but it was hard practically being a single mom during the week while he was gone. But we have such a great ward, with great people who were so willing to watch Emmeline for me so I could go to the gym and get a break. Thank you guys :)

But we were excited for hubby and daddy to come home--to say the least!

Eric's the third from the left. 

Getting his diploma... if that is what it's called. 

Being presented as certified officers. 

It was so nice that Eric's family was able to come to the graduation.

Brotherly love. 

With Eric's parents and Grandma Rose.

A Visit From Aunt Annie

For the last week of POST, Eric's little sister Annie came to visit. Eric brought her home with him on the weekend, and stayed with us until Emmeline and I went out for Eric's graduation. It was so much fun having Annie with us for the week. Sometimes it got boring with just Emmeline and I, so it was nice for both of us to see a new face :)

Having a visitor inspired us to get out a little more and do something fun on the weekend. We went for a little hike and a swim on Saturday--both firsts for Emmeline. Maybe we outdid ourselves a little bit because Emmeline was pretty darn pooped by the time we came home.

 

After Eric headed back to Meridian for his last week, Annie was a great help with Emmeline. Annie LOVES babies! Much more than I ever did when I was her age! She never got tired holding or playing with Emmeline, and Emmeline sure loved all the attention.

Not only did Annie help out with Emmeline, but she also helped me mulch all the flower bed. She was such a trooper, and it really helped the flower beds! We also had fun painting rocks for garden markers.

We decided to take Emmeline swimming again because it was so stinking hot that week. And boy did Emmeline love it! She was much happier this time around, probably because we didn't go on a hike too :)

Annie helped give Emmeline a bath every night! 

If only we lived closer, Annie would be my go-to babysitter!